Tube-cleaner.



S. S. PO0LE. TUBE CLEANER.

APPLICATION. FILED 11130.27, 1910.

Patented July 11, 1911.

"STATES" PATENTFFICE.

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Specification-f LettersIatent.

' Application filed-December 27, 1910. Serial 110. 599'15631' To all whom it may concern:

, 1 Be it known that I, SAMUEL S. Poona, a

z'ciitiieniof the United States, residingat Albany, in the county of Albany, and State 5 -of Xew York, have invented 'certaiinnew,

and usefiil Improvements.in Tillie-Cleaners and I-'do""' her by declare the following to be full,'c lear-,and 'exact description of the invention sucli as "will enable others skilled 1ov in the art to which it appertains' to "in akev m hestme fl'' ff The" present""'nyention, relates to tube :cleane'rs, andmore-particularly to cleaners whichfare adapted'for'use in removing scale and other incrus'tat ons ifroin boiler. tubes.

r V The" object of the.- invention is to provide: faj tube clanerof a: simple constructionwhich maybe1inanufactured cheaply, which is efficientiin its action, an'd 'whi'cli is capable of" nwithst'anding' long' continued, hard usage I 'witho' I lmpairing: its" efliciency; g

V es-e ends'injv-iew, are-1am of'theinventionfconteniplatesf;the provision of a plurality: of-liars support-ed" about: a suitable standardfand arranged :inl a cylindrical forjmation', the harshaw ing-their outer working Y "jfa'ce'si serratedflto term cut-ting: teeth; 'The working, org.serrat ed portion of each-bar is arrangedobliquely to the supporting'stand- "ard and this is accomplished in the preferred form of the invention 'by' forming the bars ofa'zigzag shape; The bends in the successive bars are also arranged to overlap one another in order that the cutting teeth shall engage with the' entire surface of the tube.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating the preferred form of the invention, Figure l'represents an elevation of the improved tube cleaner; and Fig. 2 is a detail 40 showing one of the'bars removed from the cleaner, and illustrating the shape of the barand-the manner inwhich the teeth are out thereon.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invent-ion the cleaner comprises head 2" from which extends longitudinally a threaded supporting standard or rod 4. A conical nut 5'is mounted upon a threaded portion of the head 2' (not'shown) andserves to clamp a cleaning, brushyG against the disk 7 formed ,uponone-end oflthe head.- The bars 8 are supportedat' their upper ends'in aslotted head '9 and are-retained 'in position by a cupshaped member 10 whichfits overthe head' 9- and serves to clamp the bars 8 in position.-v

The lower ends of the bars are seated in a plurality of slots for ned in the surface of the conical nut '5, and'by adjusting-the head 9 in, alongitudinal direction relatively to the hat a the free. ends 'of'th'ebars 8 are noved along thebonicaljsurface of the nut 5 and the bars are'spread apart or are allowed to come together'in "order to accommodate "for boiler tubes of varyingd1ain'eters. Themeans ofwhich the cleaner isfsupported {and reciprocated through theboile'r tubes.-

' In tube 1 cleanersot this'i'type, it, is im 1 f natentiiYJu-iy 11,1911. v

- port-ant that the cleaning? nie'an'sf' shall;- e11 gage. wit-h every part'bf "the: "nner surface of the a tube inorderthat t-l-ierh shall be-ln'opossibility" of leaving anyscale-" iiithe tube,

and it is further" important? that the; teeth .or other cuttingmeans -'sh'all -be;'so arranged as to obtain thefb'estpossiblecuttingzaction when operatin up'oni the hard boiler sea le this endath-barsiS, which may be aptly" termed cutter"hars;.;are. sn 6- zported A ien ihwiseni flieasupp fifi st-an 5' ard" and 1 are arranged" to. have them" outer "faces present acylindrical? surface to the "interior of the boilertube throughout a substantial'portion Yoftheir length; This is accomplishedby shaping the bars, as shown clearly in Fig. 2 of the drawings, with their opposite ends bentinwardly and 'therworkmg portions lying in the surfaceof a cylinder. 5 Each bar is serrated transversely along its outer face to forrn-a plurality of cutting teeth and the cutting teeth extend throughout the length of the: working portions of the bars. By forming, the teeth directly upon the bars inthis manner, the employment of rotary cutters, or other moving parts, is avoided, and the effective cutting area of the cleaner extends throughout the entire length of the cylindrical surface and is not confined to a few scattered points. In order that the cutting teeth shall not track, as it is termed,vand leaveridges of the scale in the boiler tube, the cutting bars are bent. into a zigzag shape, as shown clearly in FigLl, and the bends of one bar overlap the bends of the nextsucceeding bar in order that there shall be no spaces'between the bars which are not operated upon.

lVith this zigzag formation of'the bars, the 1 thrust upon the bars, due to the engagement of the cutting teeth with the'interior of the tube,' is len'gthwise of the cleaner and there is no tendency-to a lateral displacement of the ends .of the bars. Thiscon- 5 structiongtherefore, avoidsthe necessity oftyi'n'g, or otherwise fastening, the bars at, both ends, as is necessary in various other types of tube-cleaners. ".In order to -ac'. commodate "forvariations in the interior 10- diameter of the boiler tube and to allow for obstructions infthe interior of the tube,"the

' barsare conveniently-iormedbf a resilient .materi'al 'which allows-'the-barsto-yield upon encountering anr'ob'struction' in the tube 1-5- 'withoutdamagingpither the cleaner or the tube. This arrangement offcu'tter bars has :-.also the added advantagethat asthe cleaner. is forced longitudinall "through the boiler tube, the cutting teet are presented ob 20*liqu'ely tofthe interior surface of the tube,

; which 'arrangenientgjenables' the most efii-- utting' aj' o be obtained. 1

the tabovel t may readily be seen 2; present -type of tube cleanerisefii- 2 5cient 'in '1ts action, in that all partsofjthe--- interior surfa 'of'the boiler tube are'engy gaged, and, thoroiighlycleanedfowing to 'the relativelylarge cutting-Saree which is presented "by the cleaner, :fltisfsim le inc'onstructioii and'sj bject to no material 'deteno' tlyiupon the bars .iid there are no ro-" ,tating";cutte1's or other movingparts to t "out- .ofor' "rand'that furthermore, the ei '35. vice may-ibis readily retained in working condition', ':as' it is a simple matter to sharpen tlie'teethor to? re lace any one of the c tt f s when desire' v azigzag sha tion, for the cutting teeth are formed di 'fied' without departing from the broader '4. features of the invention.

' What is claimed is 1. A tube cl'eaner, comprising a plurality of bars, each rovided with cutting .teeth formed alongits outer face, the barshav- 5( ing'a-zigzagshape in order'that the cutting teeth .shall engage with all portionsofthesurface ofthe tube, substantially as described. l

2; A tube "cleaner" comprising a plurality 5: of bars, each provlded with cutting teeth formed along its outer face, the bars having and the bends in one bar overlapping t e bends of the next succeeding bar order that all portions of the 6( surface of the tube shall becleaned, substantially as described,

,3. A" tube leaner, com-prising a plurality of bars having a'z'igzag formation, the bars arranged to present a'cylindrical surface to 6:

- the, interior of the .tube' throughout a substantial' portion of their len th, and a plurality 'of cutting teeth formed upon the outer face of each bar "in order to en ge with .the ent-ire surfaoeof the tubeas, t e cleaner 7! is moved therethrough,sub ta tiall as Scribed;"' i .i

' 4, A tube cleaner comprising a standard,

and a plurality of. resilient bars having a zi'gzag.shape supported lengthwise thereof 7:

and stened to the 'standa'rdvat each end, the bars being arrangedto present a Ic'y-, lindricaPsurfaoe to the interior of the tubeand each having transverse serrations formed'along'its outer face whereby the cut 8( ting teeth operatively engage with all portions of the interior surface'of the tube, substantially as described.-

" SAMUEL S. POOLE. I

Witnesses VES'I'INA J. ANDREWS, ERNEST W. Rmcx; 

